Community Workers

ANZSCO ID 411711

Overview

Snapshot

Employed
24,400
Future Growth
N/A
Weekly Earnings
N/A
Full-Time Share
61%
Female Share
80%
Average age
45

Summary

Community Workers facilitate community development initiatives and collective solutions within a community to address issues, needs and problems associated with recreational, health, housing, employment and other welfare matters.

Specialisations: Community Development Officer, Community Support Worker, Housing Officer.

A formal qualification in community services, individual support, social work, social sciences, psychology or another related field is usually needed to work as a Community Worker. Vocational Education and Training (VET) and university are both common study pathways.

Tasks

  • Assesses community needs and resources for health, welfare, housing, employment, training and other facilities and services.

  • Liaises with community groups, welfare agencies, government bodies and private businesses about community issues and promotes awareness of community resources and services.

Characteristics

Job Type
Community And Personal Service Workers
Skill Level
High skill
ANZSCO Occupation group
Unemployment Rate
n/a
Industries
Pathway(s)
  • University
  • Vocational Education and Training (VET)
Interests
  • Administrative
  • Enterprising
  • Helping
Physical Demand
  • Sedentary

Outlook

Employment Outlook

JSA produces employment projections to show where likely future job opportunities may be. Employment projections data are only produced for occupations at the broad four digit Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) level. While data are not available for this occupation, projections data are available for the parent occupation, Welfare Support Workers, under the outlook section.


Earnings and hours

Working arrangements

  • Around 61% of people employed as Community Workers work full-time hours, in all their jobs combined. This is 5 percentage points below the all jobs average (66%).

    Full-time workers work an average of 41 hours per week in their main job. This is similar to the all jobs average (44 hours per week).

    Sources:Full-time share and full-time hours: ABS, 2016 Census, customised report. Compared to the all jobs average.


Industries

Main industries

1
Health Care and Social Assistance
61.8%
2
Public Administration and Safety
17.3%
3
Other Services
5.2%
4
Education and Training
3.6%
5
Other industries
10.8%

Regions

Employment across Australia

NSW

29.4% All occupations: 31.6%

VIC

24.9% All occupations: 25.6%

QLD

15.8% All occupations: 20.0%

SA

9.9% All occupations: 7.0%

WA

12.5% All occupations: 10.8%

TAS

2.9% All occupations: 2.0%

NT

2.6% All occupations: 1.0%

ACT

1.8% All occupations: 1.9%

Employment by State and Territory (% Share)

State Community Workers All Jobs Average
NSW 29.4 31.6
VIC 24.9 25.6
QLD 15.8 20.0
SA 9.9 7.0
WA 12.5 10.8
TAS 2.9 2.0
NT 2.6 1.0
ACT 1.8 1.9



Worker profile

Age and gender

Age In Years
45
All Jobs Average is 40
Female Share
80%
All Jobs Average is 48%
  • The median age of Community Workers is 45 years. This is higher than the all jobs average of 40 years.

    A large share of workers are aged 45 to 54 years.

    Females make up 80% of the workforce. This is 32 percentage points above the all jobs average of 48%.

    Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile and gender share compared to the all jobs average.

Age Profile (% Share)

Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile of workers in this job compared to the all jobs average.
Age Bracket Community Workers All Jobs Average
15-19 0.3 5.0
20-24 3.6 9.3
25-34 19.0 22.9
35-44 24.4 22.0
45-54 27.8 21.6
55-59 12.7 9.0
60-64 8.5 6.0
65 and Over 3.8 4.2
Median Age 45 40

Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile of workers in this job compared to the all jobs average.


Employment Pathways

Education, training and experience

A formal qualification in community services, individual support, social work, social sciences, psychology or another related field is usually needed to work as a Community Worker. Vocational Education and Training (VET) and university are both common study pathways.

Visit

  • Course Seeker to search and compare higher education courses.
  • ComparED to compare undergraduate and postgraduate student experiences and outcomes.
  • My Skills to compare Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses, providers and student outcomes.
  • AAPathways website to explore Community Services VET training pathways.

Highest Level of Education (% Share)

Source: ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Highest qualification completed by workers in this job (in any field of study). Qualifications needed by new workers might be different from the qualifications of workers already in the job.
Type of Qualification Community Workers All Jobs Average
Post Graduate/Graduate Diploma or Graduate Certificate 13.5 10.1
Bachelor degree 26.8 21.8
Advanced Diploma/Diploma 26.8 11.6
Certificate III/IV 18.3 21.1
Year 12 7.5 18.1
Year 11 2.3 4.8
Year 10 and below 4.9 12.5

Source: ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Highest qualification completed by workers in this job (in any field of study). Qualifications needed by new workers might be different from the qualifications of workers already in the job.


Skills and Knowledge

Employers look for Welfare Support Workers who are caring, compassionate and empathetic, and can communicate well with others.

Skills

Skills can be improved through training or experience.

  • 63%

    Social perceptiveness

    Understanding why people react the way they do.

  • 57%

    Active listening

    Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.

  • 57%

    Serving others

    Looking for ways to help people.

  • 57%

    Speaking

    Talking to others.

  • 55%

    Reading comprehension

    Reading work related information.

  • 54%

    Writing

    Writing things for co-workers or customers.

  • 54%

    Critical thinking

    Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.

  • 54%

    Monitoring

    Keeping track of how well work is progressing so you can make changes or improvements.

  • 48%

    Coordination with others

    Being adaptable and coordinating work with other people.

  • 48%

    Judgment and decision making

    Figuring out the pros and cons of different options and choosing the best one.

  • 46%

    Learning strategies

    Figuring out the best way to teach or learn something new.

  • 46%

    Time management

    Managing your own and other peoples' time to get work done.

  • 45%

    Persuasion

    Talking people into changing their minds or their behaviour.

  • 45%

    Active learning

    Being able to use what you have learnt to solve problems now and again in the future.

  • 45%

    Instructing

    Teaching people how to do something.

  • 43%

    Complex problem solving

    Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.

  • 43%

    Negotiation

    Bringing people together and trying to sort out their differences.

  • 41%

    Systems evaluation

    Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.

  • 39%

    Systems analysis

    Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect it.

  • 34%

    Management of personnel resources

    Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, and choosing the best people for the job.


Knowledge

These are important topics, subjects or knowledge areas.

  • 74%

    Psychology

    Human behaviour; differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; research methods; assessing and treating disorders.

  • 71%

    Customer and personal service

    Understanding customer needs, providing good quality service, and measuring customer satisfaction.

  • 70%

    Therapy and counselling

    Diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and career counselling and guidance.

  • 59%

    Clerical

    Word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office work.

  • 55%

    Sociology and anthropology

    Group behaviour and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures and their history and origins.

  • 54%

    English language

    English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

  • 52%

    Philosophy and theology

    Philosophical systems and religions, including their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and impact on society.

  • 51%

    Education and training

    Curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

  • 50%

    Computers and electronics

    Circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

  • 41%

    Law and government

    How our laws and courts work. Government rules and regulations, and the political system.

  • 40%

    Public safety and security

    Use of equipment, rules and ideas to protect people, data, property, and institutions.

  • 35%

    Mathematics

    Arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics.

  • 33%

    Administration and management

    Business principles involved in strategic planning, leadership, and coordinating people and resources.

  • 33%

    Medicine and dentistry

    Diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities, including preventive health-care measures.

  • 32%

    Communications and media

    Media production, communication, and dissemination. Includes written, spoken, and visual media.

  • 28%

    Transportation

    Moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road.

  • 28%

    Personnel and human resources

    Recruiting and training people, managing pay and other entitlements (like sick leave), and negotiating pay and conditions.

  • 15%

    Telecommunications

    Transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.

  • 14%

    Economics and accounting

    Economics and accounting, the financial markets, banking and checking and reporting of financial data.

  • 14%

    Foreign language

    Foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.


Abilities

Workers use these physical and mental abilities..

  • 59%

    Oral expression

    Communicate by speaking.

  • 57%

    Oral comprehension

    Listen to and understand what people say.

  • 55%

    Problem spotting

    Notice when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong, even if you can't solve the problem.

  • 55%

    Written expression

    Write in a way that people can understand.

  • 55%

    Deductive reasoning

    Use general rules to find answers or solve problems logically.

  • 55%

    Speech recognition

    Identify and understand the speech of another person.

  • 55%

    Written comprehension

    Read and understand written information.

  • 54%

    Speech clarity

    Speak clearly so others can understand you.

  • 50%

    Near vision

    See details that are up-close (within a few feet).

  • 46%

    Inductive reasoning

    Use lots of detailed information to come up with answers or make general rules.

  • 45%

    Sorting or ordering

    Order or arrange things in a pattern or sequence (e.g., numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).

  • 43%

    Brainstorming

    Come up with a number of ideas about a topic, even if the ideas aren't very good.

  • 43%

    Categorising

    Come up with different ways of grouping things.

  • 43%

    Multitasking

    Do two or more things at the same time.

  • 43%

    Originality

    Come up with unusual or clever ideas, or creative ways to solve a problem.

  • 43%

    Selective attention

    Pay attention to something without being distracted.

  • 41%

    Flexibility of closure

    See a pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) hidden in other distracting material.

  • 41%

    Memorization

    Remember things like words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.

  • 39%

    Far vision

    See details that are far away.

  • 39%

    Perceptual speed

    Use your eyes to quickly compare groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.


Activities

These are kinds of activities workers regularly do in this job.

  • 75%

    Planning and prioritising work

    Deciding on goals and putting together a detailed plan to get the work done.

  • 66%

    Making decisions and solving problems

    Using information to work out the best solution and solve problems.

  • 66%

    Keeping your knowledge up-to-date

    Keeping up-to-date with technology and new ideas.

  • 65%

    Looking for changes over time

    Comparing objects, actions, or events. Looking for differences between them or changes over time.

  • 63%

    Communicating within a team

    Giving information to co-workers by telephone, in writing, or in person.

  • 63%

    Checking compliance with standards

    Deciding whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.

  • 63%

    Working with the public

    Greeting or serving customers, clients or guests, and public speaking or performing.

  • 62%

    Negotiating and resolving conflicts

    Handling complaints and disagreements, and negotiating with people.

  • 61%

    Documenting or recording information

    Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.

  • 60%

    Helping and caring for others

    Providing personal assistance, medical attention, or emotional support.

  • 59%

    Building good relationships

    Building good working relationships and keeping them over time.

  • 59%

    Researching and investigating

    Looking for, getting and understanding different kinds of information.

  • 59%

    Collecting and organising information

    Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or checking information or data.

  • 59%

    Assessing and evaluating things

    Working out the value, importance, or quality of things, services or people.

  • 58%

    Coordinating the work of a team

    Getting members of a group to work together to finish a task.

  • 56%

    Thinking creatively

    Using your own ideas for developing, designing, or creating something new.

  • 53%

    Communicating with the public

    Giving information to the public, business or government by telephone, in writing, or in person.

  • 53%

    Scheduling work and activities

    Working out the timing of events, programs, and activities, as well as the work of others.

  • 49%

    Working with computers

    Using computers to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.

  • 44%

    Providing office support

    Doing day-to-day office work such as filing and processing paperwork.


Interests and demands

Learn about the daily activities, and physical and social demands faced by workers. Explore the values and work styles that workers rate as most important.

Interests

Interests are the style or type of work we prefer to do. All interest areas are shown below.

  • 90%

    Administrative

    Following set procedures and routines. Working with numbers and details more than with ideas, usually following rules.

  • 86%

    Helping

    Working with people. Helping or providing service to others.

  • 62%

    Enterprising

    Starting up and carrying out projects. Leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes require risk taking and often deal with business.

  • 29%

    Analytical

    Ideas and thinking. Searching for facts and figuring out problems in your head.

  • 24%

    Creative

    Working with forms, designs and patterns. Often need self-expression and can be done without following rules.

  • 24%

    Practical

    Practical, hands-on work. Often with plants and animals, or materials like wood, tools, and machinery.


Values

Work values are important to a person’s feeling of satisfaction. All six values are shown below.
  • 86%

    Relationships

    Serve and work with others. Workers usually get along well with each other, do things to help other people, and are rarely pressured to do things that go against their sense of right and wrong.

  • 71%

    Support

    Supportive management that stands behind employees. Workers are treated fairly by their company, they are supported by management, and have supervisors who train them well.

  • 57%

    Independence

    Work alone and make decisions. Workers are able to try out their own ideas, make decisions on their own, and work with little or no supervision.

  • 52%

    Achievement

    Results oriented. Workers are able to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment.

  • 50%

    Working conditions

    Job security and good working conditions. There is usually a steady flow of interesting work, and the pay and conditions are generally good.

  • 48%

    Recognition

    Advancement and the potential to lead. Workers are recognised for the work that they do, they may give directions and instructions to others, and they are looked up to in their company and their community.


Demands

The physical and social demands that workers face most often are shown below:
  • 99%

    Contact with people

    Have contact with people by telephone, face-to-face, or any other way.

  • 98%

    Telephone

    Talk on the telephone.

  • 97%

    Face-to-face discussions

    Talk with people face-to-face.

  • 91%

    Electronic mail

    Use electronic mail.

  • 87%

    Indoors, heat controlled

    Work indoors with access to heating or cooling.

  • 86%

    Time pressure

    Work to strict deadlines.

  • 86%

    Contact with the public

    Work with customers or the public.

  • 84%

    Teamwork

    Work with people in a group or team.

  • 83%

    Physically close to people

    Work physically close to other people.

  • 83%

    Frequent decision making

    Frequently make decisions that impact other people.

  • 81%

    Impact of decisions

    Make decisions that have a large impact on other people.

  • 81%

    Angry or unpleasant people

    Deal with unpleasant, angry, or rude people.

  • 80%

    Being exact or accurate

    Be very exact or highly accurate.

  • 80%

    Letters and memos

    Write letters and memos.

  • 80%

    Conflict situations

    Deal with conflict or disagreements.

  • 73%

    Loud or uncomfortable sounds

    Be exposed to noises and sounds that are distracting or uncomfortable.

  • 72%

    Lead or coordinate a team

    Lead others to do work activities.

  • 72%

    Unstructured work

    Have freedom to decide on tasks, priorities, and goals.

  • 66%

    Disease or infection

    Be exposed to disease or infections.

  • 66%

    Repeating same tasks

    Repeat the same tasks or activities (e.g., key entry) over and over, without stopping.

Occupational Information Network
O*NET is a trademark of the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration.
The skills and importance ratings on this page are derived from the US Department of Labor O*NET Database Version 21.2, 21-1093.00 - Social and Human Service Assistants.


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